Chrysanthemum

This is a true jewel and one we always look forward to seeing in the fall when the tabletop sized patch of low dense dark green leaves are alight with outrageous large white daisy flowers. Talk about contrast with so many of the hot colors of Autumn! In taxonomic flux, we previously offered this as Nipponanthemum nipponicum. The white flowers take on some pink-lavender tones as they age and all looks quite good over the dark green foliage.

More widely known as 'Apricot', this is one of the stellar performers in the fall garden where its seemingly artless open display of classically simple single flowers of peachy pink ray petals around a yellow eye belie a scrupulous attention to detailed presentation behind the veil of nonchalance.

One of two similar but subtly different chance seedlings in our garden thanks to the tireless hybridization efforts of our various bee species. Apparently they visited the nursery and purloined pollen from 'Dixter Pink' or 'Cottage Apricot' and placed it on our Chrysanthemum yezoense - awesome! Why didn't we think of that? Softly pale pink flowers with petals flat to slightly reflexed.

Pretty amazing mum that makes an extremely dense mound of its own accord and then smothers itself in small white flowers with a yellow button in the fall. The green leaves are made all the more attractive by the silvery undersides. We showed this to a couple of visiting Aussies who have the premier rare perennial nursery Down Under "Do you have to pinch this to have it look like this? No? Well, that's a Criahkuh (Cracker) of a plant!". Convict bloodlines aside, these boys knew a good a plant when they saw it.